The Schützenpanzer Puma (SPz Puma), meaning “Infantry fighting vehicle Puma”, is a German infantry fighting vehicle (IFV), per the Panzergrenadier-doctrine, designed to replace the aging Marder IFVs currently in service with the German Army. Production of the first batch of 350 vehicles began in 2010 and was completed in August 2021. A second batch of 229 Pumas received funding. Mass production began on 6 July 2009. The companies responsible for this project are KNDS Deutschland and Rheinmetall, which created a joint venture, Projekt System Management GmbH (PSM). The Puma is one of the world's best-protected IFVs, while still having a high power-to-weight ratio.
History Development The Puma (formerly also named Igel (hedgehog) and Panther) started as a follow-up project to the German 1996 "NGP" project (Neue Gepanzerte Plattformen, "New Armored Platforms"). Its aim was to collect ideas for a common base vehicle that could be used for a variety of tasks including that of the APC, IFV, air defense and replacing and assisting the MBT in the frontline combat role. The NGP project was ended in 2001.
The lessons learned were incorporated into the new tactical concept named neuer Schützenpanzer ("new IFV") in 1998. Planning for the Puma as the successor of the Marder began in 2002. That same year, the German Army (Heer) placed an order for the delivery of five pre-production vehicles and their logistics and training services at the end of 2004. On 8 November 2007, a budget of €3 billion to acquire 405 Pumas (excluding the five Pumas that had already been delivered to the German Army for trials) was agreed upon.
On 6 December 2010, the first two serial vehicles were handed over to the German Bundesamt für Wehrtechnik und Beschaffung.
The Puma successfully completed cold tests in Norway in 2012. In August 2013, two Pumas were airlifted to the United Arab Emirates for hot weather tests. Trials included suitability for hot weather operations, firing and driving maneuvers in desert conditions, as well as firepower and mobility evaluations. During the trials, the temperature profiles inside the vehicle were measured, then compared to the ambient temperature.
On 13 April 2015, the Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support (BAAINBw) granted authorization of use of the Puma IFV. This began a program to "train the trainers" on the first seven vehicles and additional ones until the end of the year, when a training center will be set up to put Panzer Grenadiers of mechanized infantry companies through a three-month course to familiarize them with their Pumas. The Puma officially entered service with the German military on 24 June 2015.
Future Given the advanced age of the current Marder IFVs, and because the world market does not offer any vehicle comparable with the specifications to which the Puma is built, the acquisition of the new vehicles was unanimously voted for by the Budget Committee of the Bundestag.
350 Pumas were delivered to replace the more than 40-year-old Marders. Full operational readiness was to be achieved by 2024.
The German Army will use €500 million to modernize 40 Pumas by 2023, with more effective weaponry and communications technology capable of rapidly providing a situation image and GPS coordinates to fighter jets. This variant was cleared for operations in March 2021, after successfully completing the army's tactical evaluation in its second attempt. The German contribution to the NATO VJTF in 2023 is intended to include Pumas to this standard.
There are provisions for hard- or soft-kill systems to defeat hostile ATGMs or RPGs, or for future active/reactive armor. There are also mounts and interfaces for the inclusion of ATGMs on the right side of the turret.
The Puma's large weight reserves and the compact cabin make it very attractive for modification. Most vital integrals are situated in the front, floor, and side walls, which may remain unchanged during such a cabin-oriented modification.
On 28 June 2021, BAAINBw awarded the Rheinmetall-KMW joint venture PSM a EUR1.04 billion (US$1.23 billion) contract to upgrade 154 German Army Pumas to the S1 enhanced design status. The upgrade includes equipping the Puma with the Mehrrollenfähiges leichtes Lenkflugkörper-System (Multirole-capable Light Missile System: MELLS, the Bundeswehr's designation for the Spike-LR), integrating a turret-independent secondary weapon system, new digital radios, high-resolution day/night cameras for the driver and mounted squad, color-enabled optronics for the gunner and commander, and connecting the vehicle with the Infanterist der Zukunft - Erweitertes System (Future Soldier - Expanded System, IdZ-ES) and battle management system. The contract is scheduled for completion by 2029; an option to upgrade another 143 Pumas is included, which combined with the 40 already upgraded would bring all but 13 driver training vehicles in the German Army's inventory to S1-standard. That option was approved in December 2022.
In March 2022 the funding for a second batch of 229 Pumas of the latest standard was secured.
Eighteen Pumas took part in exercises in 2022, and all of them were inoperable at the end of the exercises. Major General von Butler, the commander of the 10th Armoured Division, described the situation as a "total failure." Consequently, the German government paused purchases of further Pumas. The manufacturer described the damage as "minor damage" which "was caused by the crew through improper operation".
In May 2023, another batch of 50 Pumas was ordered. In December 2025, the order was extended by 200 further vehicles to a total of 250 Pumas. Including the first production batch of 350, the German Army will thus have 600 Puma IFVs.
Design
The Puma, while externally not very different from existing IFVs, incorporates a number of advances and state-of-the-art technologies. The most obvious of these is the incorporated ability to flexibly mount different armour (see below for details). Another feature is the compact, one-piece crew cabin that enables direct crew interaction ("face-to-face"; like replacing the driver or gunner in case of a medical emergency) and minimizes the protected volume. The cabin is air conditioned, NBC-proof with internal nuclear and chemical sensors and has a fire suppressing system using non-toxic agents. The engine compartment has its own fire extinguishing system. The only compromise of the otherwise nearly cuboid cabin is the driver station, located in a protrusion in front of the gunner, in front of the turret.
One measure to achieve the one-piece cabin is the use of an unmanned, double-asymmetrical turret (see photo): while slightly off-center turrets are common in IFVs, the Puma's turret is on the left-hand side of the vehicle, while the main cannon is mounted on the right side of the turret and thus on the middle axis of the hull when the turret is in the forward position.
The outer hull (minus the turret) is very smooth and low to minimize shot traps and the general visual signature. The whole combat-ready vehicle in its base configuration is air transportable in the Airbus A400M tactical airlifter. Its 3+6 persons crew capability is comparable to other vehicles of comparable weight, like the US American M2 Bradley IFV, the Marder, and the CV9040, but smaller than the 3+8 of the CV9030 and CV9035.
Armament
Main gun The primary armament of the Puma is a Rheinmetall 30 mm MK 30-2/ABM (Air Burst Munitions) autocannon, which has a rate of fire of 200 rounds per minute and an effective range of 3,000 m. The smaller 30×173mm cartridge offers major advantages over, for example, the Bofors 40 mm gun mounted on the CV9040 because of a much lower ammunition size and weight. The belt feed system provides a large number of rounds ready to fire, while the 40 mm offers only 24 shots per magazine. This is not a problem in a CV9040, but would force the Puma off the battlefield to reload the unmanned turret.
There are currently two ammunition types directly available via the autocannon's dual ammunition feed. One is a sub-calibre, fin-stabilised APFSDS-T (T for tracer), with high penetration capabilities, mainly for use against medium armoured vehicles. The second is a full-calibre, multi-purpose, Kinetic Energy-Timed Fuse (KETF) munition, designed with a fuse setting allowing air burst capability for ejecting a cone of sub-munitions. The ammunition type can be chosen shot-to-shot, as the weapon fires from an open bolt, with no cartridge inserted until the trigger is depressed. The ammunition capacity is 400 rounds; 200 ready to fire and 200 in storage.
Anti-tank guided missile To combat main battle tanks, helicopters, and infrastructure targets such as bunkers, the German Puma vehicles will be equipped with a turret-mounted EuroSpike Spike LR missile launcher, which carries two missiles. The Spike LR missile has an effective range up to 4,000 m and can be launched in either the "Fire and Forget" or "Fire and Observe" mode.
Machine gun Keeping the weight within the 35-ton limit also led to a smaller calibre for the secondary armament, a coaxially mounted 5.56 mm HK MG4 machine gun firing at 850 rounds per minute and with an effective range of 1,000 m. The ammunition capacity is 2,000 rounds; 1,000 ready to fire and 1,000 in storage. While this is a smaller weapon than the western standard secondary armament (7.62 mm caliber MG), it offers the advantage that the crew can use the ammunition in their individual firearms. In situations where the lower range and penetration of the 5.56 mm rounds is an issue, the high ammunition load of the main gun enables the vehicle crew to use one or two main gun rounds instead. The gun housing can also host the 7.62 mm MG3.
Grenade launcher In addition to the usual smoke-grenade launchers with 8 shots, there is a multishot 40 mm launcher at the back of the vehicle for close-in defence. The main back door can be opened halfway and enables two of the passengers to scout and shoot from moderate protection.
Protection A high level of protection was one of the main priorities for the Puma; prior to its development, the ASCOD and CV90 were considered as potential alternatives by the German Army, but rejected for being unable to reach the required protection level even when heavily modified. Using a combination of specific design choices and specialized technologies, the Puma achieves a level of protection unreached by previous IFV designs. These include the relatively low silhouette of the hull, a modular armor concept, a small interior volume, an unmanned turret, redundant internal systems, interfaces for hardkill and softkill active protection systems, the separation of fuel from the crew compartment, the use of electrical rather than hydraulic turret and gun drives, and the isolation of ammunition in separate compartments with blow-out panels.
The whole crew, including the driver, and the dismount squad sit inside a single compartment, which enabled the German Army to reach a higher level of protection. For the driver, this means that there are safe ways to exit the vehicle if needed.
Passive protection The Puma makes use of a modular armor concept, which means that additional protection modules can be adapted according to the desired level of protection. Initial plans were to offer three protection classes which are wholly or partly interchangeable. The protection class A is the basic vehicle, at combat-ready weight air transportable in the A400M. The Puma utilizes Rheinmetall's AMAP-B composite armor for protection against kinetic energy threats and AMAP-SC for protection against shaped charges. The hull front is protected by the latter in form of spaced multi-layer armor, while ceramic armor is used on the sides.